I’m over at Heroes & Heartbreakers talking about everyone’s favorite Viking vampire Eric Northman. Fans of Charlaine Harris’ books (now you’re thinking about Dead to the World) and True Blood may want to read this one. A tease:

I crack jokes about my affinity for all things Alexander Skarsgard, but I’m going to admit something to you: He’s not the reason I love Eric Northman.

I’d be falling all over myself for the Viking vampire regardless of who portrayed him on the hit HBO show True Blood. Sure, the Swedish actor is a bonus, but from the first time Eric appeared on the page, then on screen, he piqued my interest.

He’s dark and forbidden. Eric is more akin to what we expect from a vampire. Whether you came to meet him through Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels or on True Blood, there was a clear distinction: Eric is not like Bill.

Bill mainstreams. He plays human. Not Eric. Not ever. Eric is manipulative, which means he can work within the human world without losing part of himself. There’s no mistaking his vampiric nature. He doesn’t think of relationships to others, love, friendship, loyalty in the same terms we do. How could he?